Close X
Monday, November 4, 2024
ADVT 
Tech

App that can make obese people agile

Darpan News Desk IANS, 27 Jun, 2014 12:26 PM
    If you are used to a sedentary lifestyle, this app can help you become a little active.
     
    This smartphone-based app can produce short-term reductions in sedentary behaviour that may be effective in improving health.
     
    More sedentary time, regardless of physical activity levels, is associated with greater risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease and mortality.
     
    "Almost everyone knows that physical activity is important. But it's not widely recognised that someone who runs five miles in the evening but spends the rest of the day sitting at a desk can be putting their health at risk," said co-researcher Dale Bond from The Miriam Hospital, Rhode Island, in the US.
     
    "That smartphone you use so often throughout the day could now actually help to improve your health," he added.
     
    Bond and Graham Thomas from the same institute worked with their colleagues to develop a smartphone-based intervention to reduce the amount of time obese individuals sit or recline while awake.
     
    The smartphone app, "B-Mobile," was tested in a study of primarily middle-aged women who were obese, although the intervention can be applied to those who are not obese.
     
    The app automatically monitored the time participants spent being sedentary, and after an extended period with no activity, prompted participants via a tone paired with motivational messages to get up and walk around for a few minutes.
     
    Participants received feedback providing encouragement for taking a break.
     
    Researchers tested three different approaches to see which was best at reducing the total amount of sedentary time.
     
    Even though all three were successful, researchers found it is better to take shorter breaks more often for better health.
     
    "Prompting frequent, short activity breaks may be the most effective way to decrease excessive sedentary time and increase physical activity in individuals who are overweight or obese," Bond said.
     
    The findings appeared in the journal PLOS ONE.

    MORE Tech ARTICLES

    Must for men! Gift app can win you her love

    Must for men! Gift app can win you her love
    Confused what to gift your wife or girlfriend on their birthday? Download this unique app to eliminate the guesswork when buying a gift to bring a smile on their faces - and peace in your life!

    Must for men! Gift app can win you her love

    Get that grocery home by app? Amazon!

    Get that grocery home by app? Amazon!
    Tired of juggling to park your car as you approach the supermarket to finish weekend shopping for kitchen? Better download this app that would work as a virtual servant for you.

    Get that grocery home by app? Amazon!

    Watch live telecast from moon in 2015

    Watch live telecast from moon in 2015
    You may soon be able to watch live telecast from the moon, and closely see how it looks like from the surface that has fascinated young and old alike since ages.

    Watch live telecast from moon in 2015

    Happy birthday! Gmail turns 10

    Happy birthday! Gmail turns 10
    Your favourite webmail service Gmail has turned 10. Launched April 1, 2004, Google’s simple, user-friendly inbox today is an undisputed leader in email and related services.

    Happy birthday! Gmail turns 10

    Are you happily disgusted or sadly angry? Find out

    Are you happily disgusted or sadly angry? Find out
    What if your computer can distinguish even expressions for complex or seemingly contradictory emotions such as 'happily disgusted' or 'sadly angry'?

    Are you happily disgusted or sadly angry? Find out

    Why scholars don't trust social media?

    Why scholars don't trust social media?
    At a time when people from all walks of life are using various social media platforms to send their message across, the trend is just the opposite in case of university scholars.

    Why scholars don't trust social media?